Range anxiety has been blamed for limited sales of electric vehicles, but BMW appears to have found a cure as they are promising to let i3 owners have a conventionally-powered BMW on a "given number of days per year."

Range anxiety has been blamed for limited sales of electric vehicles, but BMW appears to have found a cure as they are promising to let i3 owners have a conventionally-powered BMW on a "given number of days per year."

Tucked away in the company's Geneva Motor Show press release, the announcement implies i3 owners will be able to rent traditional BMWs when their journey requires them to travel beyond the electric vehicle's range of 130-160 km (80-100 miles). It remains unclear if BMW will charge for this use, but the statement seems to suggest owners could get free or discounted use of conventional BMWs for a certain number of days per year.

In related news, BMW confirmed the i3 will have BMW i ConnectedDrive services which are specifically tailored to the "needs of electric mobility." As such, the system promises to provide a realistic range estimate using navigation, battery, route topography and traffic data. This information can be shown on the car's "dynamic range display" which provides an overview of all possible destinations. If a destination is out of reach, the car will suggest going into ECO PRO or ECO PRO+ mode to maximize the vehicle's range by limiting the top speed and switching the heating / ventilation system into an energy-saving mode. If that still isn't enough, the car can display public charging stations which can be reserved from the display.